Georges St-Pierre’s return to the ring made official for UFC 154

The UFC has officially announced the bulk of the lineup for UFC 154 including the main event featuring welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre‘s return to the Octagon after being out with knee issues for more than 18 months. As expected, GSP will face interim title-holder Carlos Condit where the two opposing belts will be unified.

“One of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world, Georges St-Pierre, is coming home to Montreal to defend not only his pound-for-pound standing, but his welterweight world title,” said UFC President Dana White in a press release. “St-Pierre has been off for over a year recovering from knee surgery and now has to face his toughest test in interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit, who won the interim championship by defeating Nick Diaz while GSP was injured.”

“So on Nov. 17, in Montreal, Canada, it’s champion vs. champion to see who will leave the undisputed UFC welterweight king,” White exclaimed.

St-Pierre (22-2) has defended his title six times in the cage, and is excited to fight in front of hometown. Even though he never officially lost his title, he feels that with an interim belt out there he isn’t still the champion.

“I’m excited to finally get back in the Octagon and reclaim my spot as the UFC welterweight champion,” St-Pierre said. “Carlos Condit is a very tough opponent. He has really good striking and very good submission skills. I respect him and look forward to fighting him in front of my hometown fans in Montreal.”

Conversely, Condit (28-5) doesn’t believe he became the welterweight king by beating Diaz and feels he needs to best GSP to do that.

“This is the fight the fans have been waiting so long to see,” explained Condit. “I still have not realized my goal of being the UFC welterweight champion, and to do that, I need to defeat Georges and unify the belt. I’ve worked my entire career for this fight, and I am excited it is finally happening.”

In the co-main event, Johny Hendricks (13-1) will be taking on Martin Kampmann (20-5) in a fight with obvious title implications. Hendricks, who only has only dropped one bout in the UFC, is riding a four-fight winning streak including wins over ranked welterweights Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck. Meanwhile, Kampmann has won his last three tilts and is a threat to finish his foe in any position.

@THEGUNNER, I was just thinking that this looks like one of the best GSP cards in a long time. Normally the GSP/Canada cards are pretty weak, but 154 looks like a really solid card while still being stacked with fighters from the great white north.